With the season winding down, the Columbia Wildcats are still trying to find their groove after only getting to play 10 of the 19 games that were on their schedule.
The Wildcats (4-6, 1-3), playing in just their second game following a 34-day hiatus, couldn’t hold onto an early lead Jan. 12 at Tylertown in a 64-47 loss. Following a solid start and a five-point lead after the first quarter, the Wildcats went cold while the Chiefs got hot, according to Columbia head coach Jordan Dupuy.
“We just didn’t do a good job of finishing around the rim or blocking out. They beat us fairly easy,” he said.
The Wildcats rebounded to pick up their first district win of the season Jan. 19, beating cross-county rival West Marion 70-30 at home. Columbia had a solid 31-15 halftime lead then exploded in the third quarter, outscoring the Trojans 25-8.
“We played really well and had eight guys score,” Dupuy said. “We still missed a lot of easy shots and could’ve scored a lot more points, but all together we did a great job of turning defense into offense, which is what we want to do.”
Darius Stewart had one of his best games of the season, putting up a game-high 23 points despite not playing in the fourth quarter with the game out of hand at that point. Jakeithen Lewis provided Columbia with valuable spacing, splashing home three 3-pointers and scoring 11 points. Devron “DJ” Cloyd added 10 points off the bench, while Peyton Anderson chipped in eight points and Tyler Quinn six points.
Lewis is a new starter for the Wildcats as the sophomore had to replace Corron Smith, who quit, as the shooting guard for Columbia. Dupuy said Lewis still needs to improve his decision making and defense, but he likes his perimeter scoring ability.
At home Friday night, the Wildcats were on the wrong side of a big run in the second half of a 50-40 loss to Jeff Davis County. Columbia was up 35-28 but got outscored 22-5 down the stretch.
“We made some plays that were out of character, and it changed the whole momentum of the game,” Dupuy said. “Their half-court trap (defense) hurt us again even though we had prepared for it. We just didn’t execute very well.”
The first-year coach said Columbia’s football guys — Cloyd, Anderson and Jonathan Wiltz — are coming on strong. He said they give the Wildcats the length, athleticism and depth to execute its full-court pressure defense, but they are still getting adjusted on the offensive end.
“When we’re at our best, it’s because we’re turning defense into offense. Being able to play 10 different guys to keep people fresh and change defenses has been able to help us a lot to play the way we want to play,” he said. “They’re going to continue to get some minutes, but the bad thing is we only have two weeks left in the regular season.”
Columbia played host to Lamar Christian Tuesday night, but results were unavailable at press time. The Wildcats will stay at home Friday when Tylertown comes to town for a rematch. Columbia will play Seminary back-to-back Tuesday (home) and Feb. 4 (away) before playing at West Marion in the regular season finale Feb. 5.
